BRIEF AND PLAN 


FOR THE FORMATION OF A 


National 

Liberty and Commercial League 



BY 

HONORABLE EDWARD T. CAHILL 
Congress Hall, Washington, D. C. 


April 18, 1913 



S' 

©CI.A346451 

*>0 / 



ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 


I. The name of this Association is the National Liberty and 
Commercial League. 

II. The purposes of the Association are: 

a. The preservation of the Nation as the Home of the 

native and foreign-born inhabitants of the United 
States, the Emporium for the World’s commerce, 
and the preservatory of friendship for all nations. 

b. The perpetuation of American Institutions—a free 

press, religious freedom, right of locomotion, and the 
maintenance of the Constitution of the United 
States. 

c. The procuring of a liberal land policy on the part of 

the Government and the Conservation of Natural 
Resources for the common good. 

d. Assisting in the passage of needful legislation that will 

encourage immigration to this country with no 
restriction, save alone those for public health 
morality, and the safety of the Nation. 

III. The work of the Association shall be under the control of 

an Executive Committee, which shall have the power to 
increase and fill all vacancies in its membership; elect all 
officers of the Association; establish committees in other 
cities of the United States and foreign countries, and do 
all acts and things necessary and proper to promote the 
object of the Association. 

IV. Any person may become a member of the Association by 

invitation of the Executive Committee. No member 
shall be required to pay an entrance fee or annual dues, 
but any member may make a voluntary contribution 
to the work of the Association. 

V. The Executive Committee may invite representatives of 

foreign governments and other foreign persons of dis¬ 
tinction to become an Honorary member of the Associa¬ 
tion. 



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Liberty of Nationalities—The United States of America, the 
Home of the Native and Foreign Born. 

The preservation of American Institutions demands the 
cultivation of kindred spirits and brotherly love between the 
native born and foreign born of our inhabitants, always re¬ 
membering that “The present people of the United States have 
themselves been immigrants into the fresh Continent within 
generations still recent. It is the mission of the United States 
to spread freedom and democracy throughout the world by 
teaching as many men and women as possible in freedom’s 
largest home how to use freedom rightly through practice in 
liberty under law” (Dr. Charles W. Eliot). 

This can only be accomplished by co-operation by kind words, 
good cheer, and noble example on the part of the native born, 
with his fellow-man by overlooking his lack of education and his 
inability to speak and understand the English language, re¬ 
membering that—“The best test of the value of the immigrant 
(foreigner) lies in the fact that a working man and his wife have 
the ambition to better condition so strongly implanted that they 
save sufficient money for their passage to settle in land where 
‘one man’s privilege is every man’s right’ ” (Andrew Carnegie). 

We should also remember that, “If the immigrant is indus¬ 
trious and thrifty, he will make a useful citizen whether he be 
literate or illiterate. The educated schemer is in more ways 
than one more dangerous than the honest workman, even though 
he be illiterate” (J. Cardinal Gibbons). 

Nor should we forget that our unusual and unsurpassed 
growth in population, wealth, and power, has had for its success 
“the open door ” to the immigrant from all nations—his welcome 
here, so pronounced he soon began to sympathize with his new 
home, and became companionable to such a degree that we 
overlooked his education—soon his pride was “that he was one 
of us.” His laudation of our country, his love for our institu¬ 
tions, and his willingness at all times to take up arms in its 
defense is shown on every battlefield by his shedding his blood, 
and crimsoning every field from Bunker Hill, 1776, to that of 
San Juan in 1898. His knowledge of his race and birthplace 




3 


have but added to his greater pride in the future greatness of 
this Republic. 

So here this organization as one of its missions stands ready at 
all times to do and perform every kind and kindred act necessary 
and essential, saving at all times the self-respect of the foreigner, 
for assimilation and education and the raising to the highest 
standards of morality these strangers among us, and thus will we 
reach the highest and noblest aspirations of true Americanism. 

The accomplishment of this end can only be attained by the 
correlation and bringing together of all organizations or socie¬ 
ties, these, however, to retain their Separate and individual 
existence, be they patriotic, benevolent, educational, or other¬ 
wise, which seek “Man’s uplifting,” without distinction as to 
race, creed, or those who profess no creeds, in one harmonious 
blending or union, with headquarters at Washington, D. C., 
where the signal of danger may be given by one stroke to 
every member of these organizations whose membership will 
extend into millions. 

This union of many in one alone can destroy un-American 
principles, and speaking as this Organization shall speak, non¬ 
partisan, its sentiments will strike a receptive chord in the hearts 
of those millions so brought together by this common cause, 
and the strain of the human voice arising from this concourse 
of people shall be felt not only by the Executive of this Nation, 
but by the Congress of the United States and the nations of the 
world. The bonds of friendship and patriotism are inseparable 
and indestructible, and when all else fail, these alone will 
guide the Nation to its onward course of real progress and 
power— The friend of all humanity, peace, and good will for all 
Nations. 

Liberty of Commerce. 

Not only to the immigrant class is this Nation indebted for 
its growth and development, but also for its greater growth and 
development of its foreign and import trade. This growth far 
exceeds that of any Nation in the world. At every port, and under 
every flag, in every clime, as the ship moors to the dock, or un¬ 
loads her cargo, you will find packet after packet, box after box, 
labeled “From the United States of America.” 






4 


We exported to foreign lands our produce of the value of 
$2,013,000,000. Not only did we export this large amount of 
merchandise, but we also imported to this land goods to the 
value of $1,557,000,000. Thus have we become the greatest 
commercial Nation of the world in value of commodity exported 
and imported; we far exceed that of the Mistress of the Sea, 
England. 

The United States, the Preservatory of Friendship for all 

Nations. 

Our future growth, therefore, largely depends upon our con¬ 
duct to those with whom we sell or exchange our goods. This 
commercial activity, this commingling with the foreign races 
and the exchange of commerce, means that the merchant ship 
shall soon supplant the dreadnaughts of war, and in their stead 
the white sail of peace, amity, commerce, and good will shall 
gladden the hearts of all lovers of peace, and our ports of entry 
shall become haven to the flag of every nation, and no longer 
shall we fear the cannon shot or the motor exploding on our 
shores, for in their place we shall have on our land bail after 
bail, box after box, of commodities of all kinds to gladden and 
make bright the children of not only our land but of all lands 
who make these shores their home. These boats bring to us 
clothes to clothe us, food to feed us, raiments and adornments 
of all kinds, and as we continue to grow in wealth and power, 
luxuries of all kinds, none too good for us, and thus do we make 
all nations tributaries to our happiness and prosperity. The 
Orient on the West, Europe on the East, Canada on the North, 
Oceania on the South. Thus all lands in all climes from the 
cold regions of the Arctic, the burning suns of the Tropics, to the 
soothing winds of the Temperate Zone are made subservient to 
our wants. 

Our harbors should, therefore, be open to the ships of all 
nations, for they no less than the immigrant bring to our shores 
vast treasures of wealth and add greatly to our commercial 
development, and if the closing of “the open door” to us of 
China was worthy of a declaration of war, what can be said of 
us, when we, by harsh and arbitrary navigation and immigra- 















5 


tion laws, impose on foreign boat owners imprisonment, fines, 
and other penalties, thus preventing reciprocity and mutuality 
of commerce between these nations and ourselves? 

This Organization seeks to prevent this unjust and uncalled 
for discrimination, pledges itself to cultivate at all times not 
only the friendship of the people of these nations, but also to 
encourage and by all honorable means aid in the passage of 
needful legislation looking to better and more amicable relation¬ 
ships between ourselves and these foreign nations. 

A Free Press. 

The freedom of the press, restricted alone by the provisions 
of our Constitution, has been one of the great forces in the 
preservation and safeguarding of our liberties. There are pub¬ 
lished in this country 17,641 newspapers in the English lan¬ 
guage, and 4,500 newspapers in foreign languages, the latter 
reaching 20,000,000 of readers not reached in our native language. 

The great change in recent years of following the traditional 
past is due to these great papers. The people read and digest 
not only the news but the matters covered by these journals, so 
that today the individual enjoys greater latitude individually 
than ever before in the history of the world. The weak and 
unfortunate are no longer considered as a burden on the com¬ 
munity meriting death and isolation, but the State and indi¬ 
vidual institutions rival with each other in an effort to allay the 
suffering and want of these unfortunates. The changes in the 
laws of health and sanitation and the submission to these by 
the people of the United States speak of an intelligence that 
equals the intelligence of the average voter as he casts his ballot 
for the one of his choice; the Constitution, while a limitation 
of power on the State and Nation, is made to give way to public 
opinion, and its amendment is had with no political or fractional 
strife—all this is due to the education of the people by the news¬ 
papers of the country, native and foreign. 

Any attempt, and many such have been made in recent years, 
to suppress or control the privileges of the press must be fraught 
with danger, and all precautions should be taken to preserve 
this freedom, and for this purpose we invite the co-operation 















6 


of the press, and to accomplish this we ask every newspaper in 
the United States to become affiliated with us. We ask of them 
no fee or tax of any kind, but their co-operation with us in the 
work we are engaged in, and in consideration of this affiliation 
we stand ready at all times to aid and assist legally and finan¬ 
cially any newspaper made to suffer because of the publication 
of any article brought within the purview of the Constitution 
of the United States. 


Religious Freedom. 

In no land is there allowed a greater latitude or more freedom 
to religion than in ours. We have no unity of Church and State. 
Yet religion has flourished, and in no country are there more 
steeples pointing to the canopy of heaven than in this Nation. 
All faiths, creeds, and form of worship are found here. It is only 
at times when some secret society following the tactics of those 
in Europe, who seek the destruction of religion and governments 
of all kinds, appear here as a patriotic body, daring not to 
publish the names of its officers, and also refusing the post- 
office authorities its place of publication in order that the Gov¬ 
ernment may not suppress it. The object of its authors is to 
escape damages for its false and libelous articles. The object of 
the publication is to incite prejudice and produce discord 
among the various and numerous religious bodies of the United 
States. The leaders of these patriotic organizations live and 
thrive upon the credulity of ignorance, racial and religious 
prejudices. Tike the raising of the red flag, the rancorous vapor- 
ings of these debauchers of religious tolerance excited the weak 
and unfortunates who rage and rave at all kind of religion, and 
in this frenzy destroy property and commit public plunder. 

One of the objects of this organization is to destroy these 
venomous organizations, ascertain their home address and their 
official titles, the number and name of those who compose their 
roster, also those who contribute financially to their support. 

We, as an organization, ask all other bodies, irrespective of 
beliefs, to join with us in perfecting this department of our 
society, whereby we may be able to take the proper action when 
it is found that the object of the publication of an article is to 








7 


injure the faith or belief of any denomination by false and mali¬ 
cious charges. These offenders must be brought to justice. Reli¬ 
gious tolerance does not imply the privilege to speak falsely, 
excite by exaggeration or otherwise religious prejudices, but the 
right of each religious body to the protection of law, irrespective 
of the belief of those who may differ with it; and it shall be the 
duty of this organization to lend its good office in carrying out 
religious freedom as provided for in the Constitution. 

That this work may be accomplished successfully, this organ¬ 
ization will send to each individual member of the religious 
body a properly form letter for the member to prepare and 
send to the Congressman or Senator of his district; that the 
society as a body will collect these letters from their mem¬ 
bers after preparation and signature and have the same 
registered under our postal system in the local post-office with 
a request for the return to that body of the registry card pre¬ 
pared by the Government for the receipt of the addressee. 

Right of Locomotion, 

The right of locomotion of each individual citizen and inhabi¬ 
tant to move from one State to another is secured by the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States. We frequently read of cases 
where this privilege is denied. We find that some of the States, 
notably those in the South, absolutely refuse foreign-born 
citizens the right to settle there and have discriminated against 
them. The prejudices against the foreign born in many of these 
places is so hostile that justice can not be had for the loss of 
property and at times for the loss of life. The correspondence 
of our State Department with foreign governments is repleted 
with the story of these wrongs—in some cases mob violence 
was had and loss of life ensued. The States refused to acknowl¬ 
edge liability and the Government itself, rather than break 
treaty relations, stepped into the breach and paid the indemnity 
exacted for this outrage. A dispute is now pending before the 
Government in reference to the right of the States to pass laws 
preventing immigrants owning or holding real and personal 
property, whereas this privilege is secured in the treaty between 
us and the disputants. Another unfortunate illustration of this 





8 


is where a contractor is doing business in different States; his 
laborers and workmen have become accustomed to his work and 
are skilled in his calling; he moves them from one place to 
another; violence is had; one of his employees loses his life; he 
is the support of a wife and family waiting for passage money 
in a foreign land to join him here. This family can recover 
no compensation because of his death, and are reduced to 
poverty and want and become wards of charity. The Su¬ 
preme Court of Pennsylvania has laid down the rule, 
“that aliens have no right to recover damages for the loss 
of life by virtue of her statutes,” giving, however, the heirs 
and dependents of her citizens this right and granting none at 
all in favor of aliens. This discrimination does not only apply 
to case of loss of life and property alone, but to numerous other 
matters; this distinction is found in the law of inheritance, in 
the right to enter the professions, and those engaged in mercantile 
and other callings. The Constitution of the United States and 
its Fifteenth Amendment have been invoked against this con¬ 
tention, but without avail, the courts holding these are matters 
concerning the policy of the respective States and not of the 
Federal Government. 

The hardships arising from these conditions are so frequent 
and burdensome that we feel that we can perform no greater 
duty than bringing about as speedily as possible changes in the 
State statutes and in the laws of the Federal Government 
remedying and altering this great discrimination between the 
native and foreign-born inhabitant of the United States. 

We accordingly invite the attention of the representative 
governments credited to this Nation to this condition and ask 
their co-operation here in order that the proper legislation may 
be had, and where a conflict is found between the States and the 
Federal Government concerning the law applicable here, proper 
steps be taken to remedy this unjust and inequitable discrimi¬ 
nation reflecting not only on the honor of the Nation but also 
on the States whose statutes so discriminate. To do this success¬ 
fully, we would recommend to these governments that they 
place before us the names of their subjects so affected by this 
discrimination and all the circumstances attending the same, 


9 


not that we desire to officiate in any capacity here save alone 
as an amicus curia, in that we feel the good office of a friend of 
both disputants is always conducive to good results and the 
end to be attained here most commendable. 

The Maintenance of the Constitution. 

All governments exist by virtue of the governed; and when 
this condition ceases, staple government faces a serious crisis. 
Without some limitation or restriction, the governing power 
becomes the plaything of the governed. The revolution of one 
day gives place to another the next; and all wise nations have 
seen the necessity of weights and balances in way of agreements 
and constitutions with their subjects, and hence as the days 
advance, the nearer and nearer the governing and governed 
progress, and less and less the space of separation between them 
and the people and king soon become as one in the common 
cause for the betterment of all. 

The original thirteen colonies recognized the common law of 
England as the text-book of judicial procedure and its definition 
of rights to be theirs. The King of England while a monarch, 
yet in the exercise of his stately power, was as limited as his 
humblest subject. He can make no law without his Parlia¬ 
ment, nor can he spend a farthing without its permission. 

Upon the severance of the ties that held us to England in 
1776, when we declared ourselves a Nation, we too recognized 
the necessity of having some anchor of safety to weather a storm 
and created “The Confederation of States.” But thirteen 
separate States, each claiming the same prerogatives as the 
other, led to confusion, and the right of the one to tax the in¬ 
dustries of the other was denied. Our exports and imports had 
increased, and our foreign trade had so developed that shippers 
at home and abroad could not find vessels sufficient to meet with 
the demands of the day. Every vessel not only brought com¬ 
modities, but also thousands and thousands of immigrants to 
develop our country, and our commerce called not for restric¬ 
tion, either of property or life, but on the contrary more liber¬ 
ality, more freedom—hence, the new Constitution was created 
vesting in the Federal Government the power to levy a tax 



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10 


on imports and make commercial treaties with foreign nations. 
The regulation of boats, the right to enter our harbors, these 
and kindred questions that now agitate the country were then 
discussed and the means of accomplishing this purpose was 
placed by the Constitution in the Federal Government. So 
today this same instrument will solve all questions that may 
arise to disturb our present prosperity. The thirteen States 
under the Confederation could not individually make treaties, 
nor could they engage in any policy for the greater development 
of this Nation. The States could not have distributed the lands 
we acquired by treaty from Great Britain, France, Spain, and 
Texas. Nor can they today develop our great natural resources— 
these belong to the Nation. 

We are a Republic, but a Constitutional one. Our fore¬ 
fathers were wiser than their day. They not only limited the 
power of the governed, but they created a tribunal, the Supreme 
Court of the United States, independent of the Executive and 
Legislative, to say what that Constitution means, and what 
are the powers of the Executive and Legislative bodies. Hand 
in hand have the court of last resort and the Constitution 
traveled for over a century without a break or misstep. The 
Constitution lives. Its limitations have been assailed—the 
right of the States to secede denied. The right of the States to 
grant monopolies of trade and commerce denied; the right of the 
State to give special privileges in the waters of the United 
States denied; the right of the States to give special favors in her 
industries denied; the right of the Executive to suspend the 
habeas corpus denied; the right of the Executive to invade the 
right of the legislative body denied; the right of Congress to 
invade the prerogatives of the Court denied. So as each hour 
has passed in our history, the Constitution has grown stronger 
and stronger, and its strength and its greatness and the wisdom 
of its makers was shown most clearly only recently when Con¬ 
gress, led on by an unorganized band of would-be leaders and 
by politicians who sought political gain, was willing for 
this purpose to destroy one of the great pillars of this Republic— 
the right of every one to make this land his home, when passion 
shall have subsided, and localism given p.ace to nationality, and 


11 


religious rancor given place to quiet and calm—for it matters 
not how we worship or where we worship, if we really worship 
the Omnipotent—and when men shall cease to be selfish, and for 
selfishness forget those who made it possible for him to breathe 
the air of this free Republic, and by it be a Man, then, and only 
then, shall the sublimity and the greatness of the Constitution of 
the United States be revealed. It and it alone made it possible 
for ex-President William Howard Taft to veto the bill 
restricting immigration to these shores. The Senate in its great 
wisdom, in its mantle of solemnity, fades away before the Man¬ 
date of Taft—thus has the Constitution again stood against the 
floodgates of aroused passion and saved this Republic for its 
greater future and its continuing to be the haven of the op¬ 
pressed of all nations. 

So here we invite all patriotic bodies, political and otherwise, 
who would save the Constitution in all its purity to join with us 
in its perpetuation and in its safeguarding. 

Liberal Land and Conservation Policy. 

The growth of the great West is due solely to a liberal land 
policy, and one in its day was fought most strenuously by narrow¬ 
minded people and small statesmen. We had settled the 
greatest domestic war of all ages; our people were not warlike; 
our soldiers came from the farm, the workshop, the storeroom, 
these and the day laborers filled our armies. The world won¬ 
dered what was to become of these vast armies so laying down 
their arms at Appomattox. This war was not a war of conquest, 
but one of principle—internal strife between brothers. The 
greatness of this Nation and its future was settled when the blue 
and gray clasped hands in good fellowship and started home. A 
homestead, 160 acres, was their’s if they wished—the most 
fertile fields, virgin soil was within their grasp. Mines, the 
richest in the world, were open to the prospector, and not a 
mountain nor a peak escaped him. Like the bee, these in¬ 
dustrious men labored night and day, and the isolated mountain 
became a beehive, and from the rocked earth he drew the 
richest treasures, and we became the greatest producers of gold 
and silver in the world. The cost of the war was forgotten; its 




12 


bitter memory soon buried in the rebuilding of the South, and 
the settling of the West. Thus we became the most powerful 
Nation of the world. We were the first with the rail to span the 
continent, and the world was appalled. Great States rose 
on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. These States were 
covered by foreigners; they came in droves; they dug the 
canals, deepened the rivers, built the railroads, and before 
their monthly pay-day had arrived they had purchased land, 
and made application for homestead of 160 acres of land, and 
these pioneers, these foreigners, and their descendants now hold 
these lands. Millions upon millions of acres were granted to the 
railroads by the Government, yet no complaints were heard. 
It was the building up of a continent where once was a wilder¬ 
ness. Why is this work of development now stopped ? Why this 
cry of restricted immigration? Why this demand to withhold 
the Nation’s resources? Why the withdrawal from actual use 
these millions upon millions, nay billions, of acres, and some of 
this the best agricultural, grazing, mineral, coal, and iron lands? 
Here are some of the richest mines of the world, yet all these are 
withheld from public use. Why this change of policy? Who 
can answer? None. The only answer is the same as that 
made by those who opposed the homestead laws in the sixties. 
“Preserve them for future generations—the gigantic grants will 
attrack Europe and foreigners will come here—they did.” 
With this bountiful generosity there also arrived here “a big 
man” and with him came the forces that brought out of the 
wilderness a new Empire, and no longer a condition or theory 
confronted us, but new States and a new Empire with millions 
and millions of inhabitants. So here today let us place these 
acres upon the market open to the home-seekers, whether it be 
native or foreign born. Allow the prospector to take his pick and 
shovel and pierce the rocks of these undiscovered treasures, and 
let the rivers that now run uncontrolled be harnessed, and these 
waters so held that their arid banks in the adjoining slopes will 
produce millions upon millions of fertile lands. 

Let the States that have not sold the lands donated by the 
Government reconvey them or adopt a policy of unity of action, 
whereby a general land policy shall be adopted, and by joint 


13 


policy will the happiness of the millions be conserved, and whose 
lives are yearly sacrifices in congested districts at home and 
abroad. So, too, with the great railroads, let them join in this 
policy and let the Government devise the best plan for the im¬ 
mediate use of these billions of unoccupied and undeveloped 
lands and the streams passing through them. So here this 
Organization invites the Government, the States, and the 
railroads to get together and unite upon a common plan whereby 
the policy that developed this Nation to its greatest growth will 
be pursued. The time is opportune; only a few months ago 
the cry was raised that to open the postal banks the finance of 
the Nation would suffer; the fallacy is seen that the deposits 
of our banks have not decreased, but on the contrary have in¬ 
creased, and the Government deposits are now in the millions. 
This money should be loaned out by the Government to the 
people ready to make settlement and develop these lands, 
mines, rivers, and other natural resources, thereby increasing the 
wealth and population of the Nation and opening our doors 
to all foreigners desiring to come here, and aid in this develop¬ 
ment, and conserving the interest of all the people of the United 
States. 

We also recommend the affiliation with us of the railroad 
lands, colonization and development companies engaged in the 
actual development of the resources of this country in its various 
sections. Also seek to have connected with us all bodies, civic 
and otherwise, who seek the dissemination of immigration, and 
placing these immigrants in the most desirable location, con¬ 
ducive to their moral and financial interest. 

For the greater success of this object we will keep in touch with 
the various departments of the General Government, as well with 
the States and our new possessions, and we would recommend 
to the railroads and other large holders of land the listing with 
us of these and such other opportunities as they have to offer, 
together with detailed information and inducements as they 
desire to offer new settlers so that we may be ready to lay before 
these civic bodies seeking this information full knowledge and 
accurate statements of the true conditions that face these new¬ 
comers who seek new homes. 

















14 


No Restriction of Immigration Save Alone in the Cause of 
Public Health, Morality, and the Safety of the Nation, 

It has been seen from quotations already cited that we are 
but slightly removed from all being immigrants, and that even 
a literary test is not essential as a qualification for the admission 
of foreigners to our shores. The comment of President Eliot of 
Harvard University disarms the charge that those who seek the 
admission of illiterates are themselves illiterate. The sage of 
Bonny Scotland, Andrew Carnegie, a foreigner coming from the 
ranks of the humblest, pleads for these illiterates, and in speak¬ 
ing of these lands says, “Where one man’s privilege is 
every man’s right.” He, scant in knowledge, untrained in the 
niceties of education, has placed the lamp of knowledge upon the 
table of the humblest and lowest in our land. His love for 
the unfortunate, his desire to educate this same class in every 
part of this land, speaks from the heart—its pulsation from a 
consciousness that fears not—this fearlessness was happily 
expressed by his beloved Burns: “A man is a man for a’ 
that.” Surely no appeal can be greater than his. Joining in 
unison and in brotherly accord, is the voice of him, good shepherd 
that he is, faithful to his flock, but equally grand and noble is his 
patriotism for his country, his love of its citizens unexcelled by 
none, and whose piety and saintliness is known far and wide— 
Cardinal Gibbons proclaimed the words in behalf of these 
illiterates when he said, “What we want is industry and thrift.” 

So here nothing can we add to this great plea in favor of 
unrestricted immigration better than the language of the great 
editor, Ira E. Bennett, as he pictures the immigrant as he ap¬ 
proaches Ellis Island, ‘ ‘Shall we destroy the spirit of the Statue 
of Liberty in the Plarbor of New York, which, to immigrants 
catching their first sight of America, symbolizes the land of 
freedom, equality, and democracy?” 

In the last Congress, through the veto of President Taft, the 
spirit of liberty was not only saved but a death blow was meted 
out to those who would destroy American institutions and deny 
the right of asylum to the oppressed of other lands. Again a 
new effort is to be made, as is shown by the introduction in the 
House of Representatives, April 8, 1913, House bill 1958, restrict- 


15 


ing immigration by Congressman Roddenbery, with like provi¬ 
sions as condemned by President Taft. Alike bill was introduced 
in the Senate of the United States April 7, 1913, Senate bill 50, 
by Senator Overman. 

“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” So here we appeal 
to all fair-minded men and women at home and abroad to join 
with us in the cause we espouse here and become affiliated with 
us, for the principles we seek here will live and survive long 
after the members of this Organization shall have passed away. 
For as we go to the beyond, others will rally to the cause, 
and the Republic, together with its Constitution, will stand and 
live for all time. 





























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